Sean Light is the Founder and CEO of the 4A Health Club and is revolutionizing S&C with his GenMax model. He also happens to be a good friend and mentor. Sean is a coach, entrepreneur, teacher and lifelong learner who has spent time in the MLB with the Arizona Diamondbacks and NBA with the Los Angeles Lakers. In short, he has a ton of experience and has profoundly impacted myself and countless other coaches with his ideas and model.

On the show, Sean discusses what makes elite athletes so special and how many of us do not understand the level of preparation and work that goes into making them great. He also talks about how the common perception of hard work is not the key to their success. Many in the world and in S&C misunderstand what type of work must be done to ensure elite athleticism and Sean goes in depth on some outside the box concepts such as the neurological emergency brake, gait, and fluid athleticism in an extension based, sympathetic world.

Sean's perspective of elite athletes is spot on in my opinion and illustrates the need for a change in the mindset of coaches to accommodate the gifts athletes possess. He also discusses how S&C can alter commonly held dogma to fit this world of elite athleticism.

Sean's time in the minor league yielded some terrific stories which he also shares before outlining his latest entrepreneurial exploits with the 4A Health Club. This venture focuses on education and networking for coaches across the country and has been of vital importance to my recent development.

Sean's Website: 4A Health Club

Twitter: @slight20

Instagram: @slight20

Kevin Ives is a former bobsled athlete for Team USA and a two-sport division I athlete (football and soccer). He is also a great teacher, coach and friend. Kevin has spent time as an S&C coach at the University of Mary Washington and Wounded Warrior Project and is now the Health and Wellness Supervisor for Mountain Fitness in Gypsum, CO. He also owns Nomadic Fitness where he offers his services as a trainer and certified yoga instructor.

Most importantly Kevin has spent the past two years preparing to enter into grad school to continue coaching and also plunge into research. Kevin's wide array of experiences and desire to continue performing at a high level as an athlete is a potent combination especially when combined with his passion for helping others. Kevin was born to be a coach and teacher and I am so thrilled to have been a part of helping him further his education.

In today's episode, we discuss his journey and process of selecting Old Dominion University for grad school. We also talk about how valuable to it is to have a former athlete who is so attuned to coaching and then Kevin shares some of his stories about being on the US bobsled team.

You can find Kevin on Instagram @Kivess6

George Greene is the Associate Athletic Director of High Performance and Competitive Success at Stony Brook University. With the high performance model becoming more commonplace in US sports, George is on the forefront of bringing it the college sector. He is the first S&C coach in the country to manage competitive success and has been instrumental in enhancing the student athlete experience at Stony Brook.

George and I discuss the many facets of his role in providing a holistic mindset for his athletes. George details the level of collaboration between himself and the various sectors of the athletic department, his oversight of the nutrition program and his continued efforts to educate his athletes with data driven insights into their performance and recovery.

George also outlines his work in the gym with the men's basketball program and how "feel" is important in making programming decisions. His insight on building relationships was especially impactful as nothing is more an important to a streamlined approach in a high performance setting with all the moving parts involved. I really enjoyed this conversation and urge other collegiate S&C coaches to think about George's message, which left me thinking about how much more I could provide for my athletes by communicating and sharing information with others. 

George can be found on the following platforms:

IG: @Greenestrength

Twitter: @Greenestrength

I feel that many S&C podcasts ask experienced coaches to give advice to young coaches. While this is very valuable, I have decided to go right to the source and interview several young strength coaches on how they landed jobs, networked, picked their places of education, etc. I know I made my fair share of mistakes in identifying mentors and choosing academic institutions. Only recently have I gotten more comfortable networking and reaching out to other coaches as well. I only wish I had done these things at a higher level earlier in my career so I am dedicating several shorter podcasts to career development for young coaches from the mouths of other young strength coaches who I feel are succeeding.

First off is Collin Kohlasch who just finished his first year at Lindenwood University in St. Louis. Collin works with Women's hockey and lacrosse as well as men's lacrosse. He spent two years as a GA at George Washington University and also interned at George Mason with a brief stint for the Washington Capitals as well. 

Collin did an incredible job staying patient and locating an ideal situation out of grad school. Lindenwood is an outstanding university and Collin utilized his network to acquire a great position right off the jump. In addition we talk about load monitoring and bridging the gap between athletes and coaches. Hope you enjoy!

You can follow Collin:

On Twitter @ckohlasch

On IG @c_kohlasch

Zack Nielsen joins the show to talk about the shift from collegiate to tactical S&C. Zack is part of the Army's Holistic Health & Fitness (H2F) program and he discusses the primary differences between working with athletes and soldiers; the cultural mindset of the military and how S&C can play an integral role in its evolution; and the importance of teaching coping skills to anyone a coach works with. We also chat about the growing number of opportunities within tactical S&C and how the lifestyle could be a welcome alternative to coaching in sports. 

This was a terrific episode as Zack is a good friend who grew up as an Army brat, was a highly competitive NCAA athlete, coached in the NCAA at several schools and now works with soldiers. His perspective is perfect for these topics and our shared love of punk rock was a nice little cherry on top.

Ryan Connor is today's guest and he talks about the importance of having timing be the central focus of quality speed training for youth athletes. Ryan explains his system for teaching speed and then how he incorporates weight training and some PRI-related concepts to restore sagittal plane competency for his kids. He also talks about how he tries to consolidate stressors given the other demands imposed upon youth athletes. Finally, he gives a few tips for young coaches attempting to start their own business.

Ryan has seven year coaching experience and has spent the past year growing his business, Takeover Sports and Performance https://www.facebook.com/takeoversports/. He resides in the Philadelphia area and is one of the best I've talked to when it comes to practical application for youth athlete development. Follow him on IG @coachrconnor.

Conor Harris joins the show to talk about the PRI principles of gait, the nervous system's power over the whole body, shoewear, vision training, and Adarian Barr's speed concepts. Conor can be found on IG and Twitter @conor_harris_ while his website with options to join his coaches club or to sign up for remote personal training is https://www.thepinnacleperformance.com/. Check him out and thanks for listening!